Now there's a good idea. When someone asks "Why build when you can just buy?" just answer "So, what do you do when conditions won't let you fly? You build!"

And DGrant, to make your "enemy's" posts disappear from your screen, just go to "My RC Groups". in the list on the left hand side find "Edit Ignore list". In the box type the user name of the "person" you want to eliminate. All his or her posts will be empty.

Now there's a good idea. When someone asks "Why build when you can just buy?" just answer "So, what do you do when conditions won't let you fly? You build!"

And DGrant, to make your "enemy's" posts disappear from your screen, just go to "My RC Groups". in the list on the left hand side find "Edit Ignore list". In the box type the user name of the "person" you want to eliminate. All his or her posts will be empty.

Not quite sure to what you're referring too, as far as enemies... haha.. I don't have a one that I know of. What gave you that impression? Just wondering, as I'm usually(I do say usually here)trying to just join in the topic, and offer decent input,or maybe a spin on light-hearted humor.. and talk shop.. or whatever stuff.. no enemies here... and thanks, but I do know about the "ignore" list.. really don't need it though to overlook ridiculous attitudes.. so... back to the build stuff..

I have memories of several people in the neighborhood I grew up in, one of them was always in his garage working on some sort of plane.. he was a builder for sure.. this must have been 1972 or prior, and I'd ride up on my bike, and he'd always say hello, and just chat away while he worked..that was really my first look into building..

I remember hearing or finding out that these planes took months or some of them years to build..oh..how do they do that I wondered, I was only around 10..

I now know what he/they were talking about.. I worked on a kit for over 7yrs off and on.. I'd do a few steps every few months..I'd put it away for a year, pull it out and do stuff..put it away again.. finally it got completed.. I have one now I've putzed with for 10yrs..nothing fancy...its a really a total restoration of an ARF that' got an extensive overhaul..and I just spend more time staring at it, then I do working on it...not believing I did it to this point... but the point here is...

That's all time I've thoroughly enjoyed... some of that time(not alot really) there was total kaos going on around me, and I needed escape, some of it was when I just needed a feel good thing... those that know the craft know what I'm saying...

It maybe even moreso for those that are true craftsmen, and like me have made a living being crafty in one form or another... So I say if you've got kids in the area that show interest, definately open the door up.. be friendly, let them watch, and answer as many questions as thier little minds come up with.. it leaves an impression and memories that will last a lifetime...ask me. I was one of them.

My brother built Scientific Control Line models, rubber free flight models and one tow line glider. He was 6 years older than I was. When I was very young, we shared a bedroom and he had many models hanging from the ceiling. I would have bad dreams and wake up screaming that the birds were getting me. Mom always thought it was because of the airplanes hanging from the ceiling (never minding the fact that around this time I was chased by my parent's friend's pair of Canadian Geese while they sat on the porch laughing at the sight)!

At any rate, I would spend hours watching my brother build balsa model airplanes on his bench. I spent enough time and understood the process well enough, so that when I was 6-7 years old I began building balsa models myself.

When I had my two sons, I was heavy into this hobby. Although they built plastic models and got into R/C cars for a bit, I think they may have been overexposed to R/C airplanes as the club field was on my property for 14 years, while they were growing up!

I never pushed the hobby on them, like I have seen other fathers do. I always felt they needed the spark and needed to build their first airplane. I would have help them for sure, they just never showed real interest!

Now there's a good idea. When someone asks "Why build when you can just buy?" just answer "So, what do you do when conditions won't let you fly? You build!"

And DGrant, to make your "enemy's" posts disappear from your screen, just go to "My RC Groups". in the list on the left hand side find "Edit Ignore list". In the box type the user name of the "person" you want to eliminate. All his or her posts will be empty.

And if you live in a area where there's year round flying? That's my problem here. We do have a "windy season" that can last for 3 months in the spring but you can still fly. I manage to get some done. This is a interesting thread it's about how to bring back building but IMO it's alive and well. There are plenty of guys who build that just don't post here about it. Not to mention the amount of Kit cutters ,plan suppliers and actual kits are still out there just not as popular due to the ARF. Which financially cut into the kit building. When the average guy looking to get into this looks at all the extra financial investment to do a kit (and the extra time) then looks at a ARF, which ones he going for. Just a sign of the times. Like the AMA the membership is "graying" and on the decline. The next few years will be very interesting as far as the growth of the hobby.
Mike

Mike: I used to like in southern California, and even there their are days thast you cannot fly (Yes Virginia, there is rain in Southern California). and in the autumn they have the Santa Ana winds blowing 25 MPH out of the north. In the mountains you could slope glide a cement paver!

So yeah, even in the "nicest" places weather wise there are days you can't fly

With all due respect, I don't understand this at all. Who gets to decide what is on topic? Mike is talking about how hobbyists in colder climates have more (nature driven) opportunity to build than guys in the sunny south. His post is very much on topic.

There is no need for anyone here to make themselves the thread boss and tell people what they must post.

Wait a minute here, why is O.K. for Mike2663 to post in threads I've posted in, telling me to be on topic?!?

AFAICS you're the only one in this thread trying to tell people not to go off what you've decided that topic should be. Until you started laying down the law Mike2663 was simply discussing some elements of the question "How do we encourage model building ?".

As it happens I agree with him. One way of encouraging people to build is to point out that there are often times when it's not suitable for going flying and a little designing and building can keep those of us obsessed with aircraft occupied during those times.

BTW however good the year-round weather might be just about everywhere has times, usually one a day, when it gets too dark to be practical for flying .

Looking over my cache of old RCMs I came upon an issue from June of 1976. This has a build article by Lee Renaud on his Olympic II sailplane. I must have read this article over quite a few times. At the time I was flying a foam 76 inch sailplane from Hobby Shack, called the Spirit of 76 (there was a lot of Bi-Centennial hoopla going on at that time). I remember looking forward to a built up sailplane and wondering how much better it would fly. My project for that winter had been a RCM .60 sized trainer. When I completed that airplane in the spring, I went to the local hobby shop and bought the Olympic II kits. I built this plane over the summer and late the fall of 1977, test flew the Oly II, just before moving away from the Twin Cities.

I still have this airplane. It is finished in yellow and orange transparent Super Monokote and is very visible high up in thermals. It is a great flyer and very stable on the tow! I went on to build an Airtronics Aquila. Both of these sailplanes were wonderful kits to build and great flyers! I thought that Airtronics was a very good kit producer. Also, this airplane was pretty much the first airplane that I built with CA (Hot Stuff)! It is in good shape today and the glue joints are as solid as the day they were made, which pretty much dispels the myth that they get brittle and fail, over time for me. I have found where the Olympic II is available as a short kit (but, don't remember where). It is an easy build and a fun RES sailplane that can get way up high in the sky.

My comment to him has nothing to do with whether weather is germane to the topic! I am from Minnesota for crying out loud!

Well, there are two areas where you could have 100% control of the thread, and even delete replies that you don't like. One is on your Blog Page, where you can start a thread like any other forum. The other is in "Chit Chat" where the thread starter also has the right to delete replies he doesn't like.

All we're doing here is heading down the same path we've all been on before.